Football Department Update | June 15

by Warren Parker, Football Operations Manager and Angus Schumacher, Football Operations Manager - Women's 

WAFL Football Department Update

Round 9 saw us take on East Fremantle here at Leederville Oval and it was a happy day for the League side with an important win 38pt win, which takes us to fourth on the WAFL Ladder at 6 wins and 3 losses.   

Winter is in full swing and although the conditions were not as bad as Monday’s WA Day Derby, we were still treated to some wet and windy moments over the course of the day. This did not affect the League side as they were again able to post a good score of 16.13.108. 

Unfortunately, the win was soured by an injury to one of our leaders in Scott Jones who went down during the opening bounce. He was later assessed to have broken his right fibula and will undergo surgery tomorrow. We wish Scott all the best in his recovery and are hopeful that he will be able to return later in the season. 

Corey Watts moved from defence to take on the ruck role in Jones’ absence and stood tall over the course of the day. The midfield brigade of Mitch Crowden, Angus Schumacher, Hamish Brayshaw, Christian Ameduri and Michael Randall were all influential over the course of the game and we felt that our contested work was strong on the day. 

From a forward’s point of view, Shayne Hille again showed his experience with two goals while Mitchell Schofield and Zach Raykos also added 2 goals each. Randall left a couple out there finishing with 1.3 moving between forward and midfield roles and Christian Ameduri also impacted the scoreboard when playing forward with 2.3. Liam Tedesco and Sam Van Diemen also continued strong form applying plenty of pressure during the game. 

We were happy with the defensive efforts of the boys’ considering Watts was moved out early, exposing us a little for height, but Harrison Macreadie, Kade Dittmar, Jacob Msando and Nick Robertson battled away all day. Stan Wright, Kye Willcocks and Tom North, all set us up offensively with damaging ball use and rebound run. 

The Reserves again showed some positive signs and good passages of play, but unfortunately were not good enough to hold off East Fremantle as they went down by 46 points. 

Patrick Reilly had a strong game in the midfield with 23 touches while Jayden Cappeau, Zak Teltow and Jonah Brooks played good games. 

Colts players Darcy Craven and Xavier Milner debuted in the Reserves as we look to expose several Colts players to the senior ranks over the next few months and both players showed great signs for the future. 

We will train this evening and again on Friday in preparation of South Fremantle down at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Sunday and look forward to seeing all of you Loyal Royals at the game. 

GO ROYALS! 
Warren Parker - Football Operations Manager

WAFLW Football Department Update

Round 14 of the WAFLW season was a weekend in which we saw a glimpse into the future of Women’s Football at East Perth. 

All eyes were on the Rogers Cup as they made the most of the Sunday night lights following the League game. In what was a must win match for our Rogers Cup girls, who are looking to cement a finals berth, there was plenty of support from our WAFLW contingent and Royals members who had stayed back following the League side’s win.  

Needing a win to keep our spot in the top four, the girls came out of the blocks with an emphatic first quarter, outscoring Perth 34 to 0. This was thanks to a profound team effort and early goals from Jorja Schell, Hannah Challender, Makayla Rogers, Fatoumata Toure and Ruby Burgess. Perth come out hard in the second quarter and restricted us to just three behinds, before a dominant second half saw us pile on a further 9 goals and go on to win the match 97 – 1. This was a performance that will give our girls confidence and a belief that they can play a brand of football good enough to beat anybody in the competition. On a night where the contribution of each player was strong, and team performance something to admire, picking the best players was tricky. However, our award winners on the night were Layla Firns, Makayla Rogers, Neve McAlister, Sabella Banks and Hannah Challender. 

Our Rogers Cup girls will now enjoy a week off before heading into the final round against second placed Claremont, where a win will again be needed to ensure a maiden finals birth. Their confidence, belief and game style has been building across the season, and we are optimistic about securing a spot in the finals. 

While our Rogers girls enjoy a bye this weekend, our WAFL Women are back in action versus Peel Thunder on Saturday afternoon, in what is shaping up to be a great contest. It's an opportunity to secure that elusive first victory in our inaugural season. Make a day of it down in Mandurah, and head to Lane Group Stadium for a 3.45pm bouncedown. Let’s help our girls over the line! 

We look forward to another great weekend of women’s footy and hope to see you in Mandurah!  

GO ROYALS! 
Angus Schumacher, Football Operations Manager – Women’s